Kano: Governor Yusuf Orders Immediate Evacuation Of Refuse From Streets

Kano State Governor, Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf has approved the Emergency Refuse Evacuation Plan for immediate clearing of refuse heaps on the streets.

The Governor's action, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa is borne out of concernover the implications of garbage littering roads.

According to the statement that was issued on Friday, the lackadaisical attitude of the immediate past administration towards environmental hygiene may cause the State unimaginable losses, resulting from flooding in the rainy season if major drainages blocked by garbage are not desilted immediately.

The Governor described as unfortunate, the sale of the critical assets of the State’s Refuse Management and Sanitation Board (REMASAB) to family members and friends of former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, under the cover of a dubious Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

He further accused that this is making it difficult to achieve effective solid waste management.

''They have sold all the critical assets including trucks belonging to REMASAB.

"We have no option than to hire tippers and other equipment to quickly clear the dumps from the streets in a bid to restore efficient environmental sanitation in Kano. 

''We have identified major refuse dumping sites in the city and therefore categorized them into five zones for efficient and effective evacuation that will start soon.

"The operation will be carried out day and night until everything in Kano is cleaned up,'' the Governor said.

Governor Yusuf urged the residents of Kano to cooperate with the officials who will carry out the refuse evacuation exercise in the coming days in order to avert flooding, pollution and health hazards associated with the poor environmental hygiene.